The thesis seeks to analyze the current relations between the EU and China, with an emphasis on the area of economic co-operation. The thesis is divided into three chapters. The first chapter discusses the external relations of the two main actors implemented in South East Asia, with a focus on the economic and also the political dimension. The second chapter provides insights into EU-China relations from the '90s until today. The emphasis is put on trade and investment relations. The third chapter is an evaluation of the current EU-China partnership focusing on achievements but also the problematic issues that still hamper the further development of mutual relations.

This thesis focuses on a particular aspect of the international role of the European Union (EU), examining the evolution of EU conflict prevention policy in the post- Cold War period. In recent years the EU has extended its range of external relations policies, and conflict prevention has emerged as a prominent objective on the agenda, particularly as the Union faced political and economic instability on its borders. After introducing conflict prevention and analysing the EU's external relations and the post- Cold War security context, the thesis examines the EU's institutional set-up for conflict prevention. The incremental development and institutional structure of the EU renders the formulation and implementation of conflict prevention by the EU a particular challenge. The thesis then proceeds to an investigation of EU cooperation and conflict prevention policy coordination with the security organisations identified as the EU's key partners: the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). While post-Cold War conflict prevention requires a multilateral approach, the proliferation of European security organisations and the increasing overlap in their objectives makes policy coordination between the EU and other organisations particularly important. It is concluded that the EU faces fundamental internal coordination problems and institutional divisions in its elaboration of conflict prevention policy. Conflict prevention is underdeveloped by the EU and is in danger of being marginalised in favour of shorter-term crisis management. Furthermore, internal coordination problems have a detrimental impact on the organisation's ability to cooperate externally with other security organisations. EU external priorities in conflict prevention focus on cooperation in crisis management with the UN and NATO, and fail to capitalise on the advantages of cooperation with the OSCE. The failure of the EU to fully adopt conflict prevention as an external relations priority and to coordinate its activities with other organisations could have implications for future stability in, and on the borders of, the EU.

Since the competence provided in the CFSP and the AFSJ areas in certain situation can overlap, issues have arisen in the recent case law and literature concerning the choice of legal basis. The provisions of the two policy areas concern important international areas and the institutional balance, which is based on what legal basis is chosen, leads to a number of institutional consequences such as division of power between the Member states and the Union’s institutions. The idea behind this paper is to display an ample and just picture of a complicated situation in order to highlight the issues at hand that have arisen due to the complexness of the legal framework. If one of the policy areas are chosen as the correct legal basis, different rules in the treaty applies, which leads to different distribution of power since different institutions in EU play different roles depending on legal basis. The purpose of this work is therefore to analyse the external dimension of the AFSJ and the CFSP rules and examine how the correct legal basis can be determined by the legislator at the same time as the Member States and the EU’s ability to fulfil their objectives and goals is not undermined.

The post-Cold War era has seen a restructuring of the institutions of global governance and an intensification of international relations, to which one of the most important responses has been a reinvigoration of regionalism and regionalisation. The proliferation of regionalism has led to increased relations between regional groups in different world regions, and the EU has been central to the development of this new interregional phenomenon. This thesis sets out to test the theory of interregionalism by looking at how the EU has strategically pursued interregionalism, and at how this has subsequently worked in practice. To best achieve this objective the thesis develops a more sophisticated framework of analysis; complex interregionalism. This framework allows for a detailed investigation of how the EU has simultaneously engaged in bilateral and interregional relations in Latin America. The thesis explores the tensions between interregionalism as a strategy and interregionalism in action, principally by drawing lessons from the EU's relations with Latin America, and Mercosur in particular. The most general foundation for this analysis is the study of International Political Economy (IPE), particularly the extensive literature on regional integration and the emerging literature that deals specifically with interregionalism. The thesis starts by presenting a comprehensive framework for analysis of interregional relations using the theory of interregionalism. The theory of interregionalism, ascribes a series of motivations and impacts that interregionalism. should exhibit, all of which are replicated in EU complex interregional strategy. The EU is found to have a consistent and coherent complex interregional strategy that it employs across three world regions: Asia, Africa and Latin America. The EU, notably the Commission, is pursuing an ambitious complex interregional strategy in each region that encompasses different levels of relations with different actors, but a strategy that always centers on the pursuit of pure interregionalism. Whilst the thesis details the EU's pursuit of this consistent complex interregional strategy with all three of the aforementioned world regions, it is the presence of the Andean Community, Central American Common Market and Mercosur in Latin America that marks the region out for deeper analysis. Complex interregional strategy in Latin America is applied consistently to all three regional integration vehicles, confirming the EU desire to pursue pure interregionalism, most notably with Mercosur. Analysis of EU relations with Mercosur reveals a core tension between strategy and action, notably that Commission strategy is not translated into action, as witnessed by the change towards bilateral relations with Brazil in 2007. The thesis finds that more important than the EU inability to translate strategy into action, is its inability to foster regional integration in its partners and encourage more coherent counterparts for the future pursuit of pure interregionalism.

Legal aspects of cooperation between the EU and ACP countries The origins of the EU cooperation with the group of Sub-saharan African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP Group) date back to the very beginnings of the European integration with Part IV of the Treaty of Rome establishing association of the former colonies of the several founding member states to the European Economic Community. After the colonies gained their independence, their association to the EEC was given a basis of the international law by means of the conventions from Yaoundé (1963, 1969) and Lomé (1975, 1980, 1985, 1990 - revised in 1995). The cooperation between the EC/EU and ACP countries has progressively evolved into a comprehensive partnership encompassing the political, development and economic cooperation. The relations between the EU and 78 ACP countries are actually ruled by the Cotonou Partnership Agreement (2000, revised in 2005 and 2010) which is to be in force until 2020. The EU-ACP partnership constitutes a specific system of international law and probably can be described as the most comprehensive relationship between developed and developing countries. In many ways, the cooperation with the ACP countries represents a special case in the field of the EU external relations and, due to a specific historical...

The thesis "Role of the European Union in Latin America: a Change after the Rio Summit?" focuses on alternations of the position of the European Union (EU) in Latin America after the Rio Summit (1999) which was supposed to be a milestone in European-Latin-American relations. The main objective is to identify and explore the EU role and its trends which result not only from the economic links but also the actions of the EU institutions. Factors of unequal position of Latin America in mutual relations, as well as the impact of the interregional strategy of the EU are of special focus. The thesis is organized as follows. The chapter 1 lays conceptual and theoretical grounds and develops the methodology of "the Atlantic triangle" to frame the issue in interregional relations concepts. The chapter 2 analyses the EU and Latin America as subjects of interregional relations. As for the Latin-American region, its social-economic features, development strategy orientation and its impacts and subregional integration are examined. The EU region subchapter is focused on the interregional strategy, its design and development, as well as the multidimensional nature of the relations and its component dynamics (trade, political dialogue, development cooperation). The Chapter 3 identifies and explores external factors which influence the European-Latin-American ties. According to the triangle methodology, the inevitable influence of the United States (the Anglo-American region in the thesis concept) is studied separately from the global environment and other regions. The Chapter 4 quantifies the economic links of the Latin-American region. It examines the shares and trends in trade, investment, development cooperation transfers and migration. The Chapter 5 studies the institutionalised relations within the Atlantic triangle. It classifies the existing links of the Latin-American region (treaties, fora), assesses the role of interregional summits, compares the political approaches from the United States (US) and the EU in trade, development and security areas and studies in detail the EU impact on several aspects of Latin-American institutional configuration (e.g. regional integration). Among others, the most important conclusions drawn in the last chapter are the following: The unequal position of Latin America in relations with the EU can be attributed to its development characteristics as well as its fragmentation that has recently been progressing. It results in week coordination capability of Latin-American countries on the subregional level and absence of effective coordination on regional level. The interregional strategy of the EU aimed at building "Birregional Strategic Partnership" has not met Latin-American expectations. Although the situation in both regions and global environment has changed substantially from the strategy initiation, the strategy concept remains unaltered which is reflected the mutual relation stagnation. The EU strategy has not proved to be effective in fostering the EU role in Latin America. The free trade negotiation balance of the EU and the US is unfavorable to the EU which has not been able to conclude the association agreements (a basic tool to build the partnership) with its major Latin-American partners (MERCOSUR). The mid/long-term trends in the economic positions on the Latin-American markets have been also unfavorable to the EU in favor to the US and Asian partners. The ineffective strategy did not reverse nor stop such trends. However, the EU role is still not negligible in Latin-American aspirations to diversify its external links from the US influence. The relations with the EU display evident counter-balancing features. The EU also plays the role of "external federator" on subregional level but its influence is rather limited. The overall conclusion is that the Rio Summit did not start closer cooperation. The weakening economic relations are not supported by an effective interregional strategy from the EU. The role of the EU is therefore diminishing.

The European Union (EU) increasingly participates in various arrangements at the international level in order to further the objectives of the Union. Yet, such participation poses challenges in terms of ensuring that the EU has an effective voice, whilst also ensuring certainty and clarity for other participants. This thesis focuses on the EU’s participation in the decision-making processes of multilateral fora in the field of maritime affairs in order to examine how these challenges can be met. The thesis explores the legal mechanisms in both EU law and international law that accommodate the ability of the EU to participate in international arrangements. It will consider whether these mechanisms ensure clarity and certainty to the key actors involved and whether consistency exists between the internal and external mechanisms. Through collecting, examining, and analysing historical and contemporary materials relating to the shaping and operating of the internal and external legal mechanisms, this thesis aims to explain and analyse how the legal mechanisms are established and how they can be adapted to meet the challenges facing the EU, its Member States, third States, and international institutions in a clearer and more consistent manner. The research diagnoses several key factors that have contributed to the possible ambiguity, uncertainty, and inconsistency of these mechanisms, including the evolving nature of shared competence and a heavy reliance on the Court of Justice in ascertaining and safeguarding the contours of the EU legal order and its interface with the international legal order. It then examines how the internal legal mechanisms have been projected externally, by using selected case studies of the participation of the EU in the International Maritime Organisation, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations. This thesis illustrates that although various mechanisms have been adopted internally and externally to tackle the challenges facing the EU’s participation, several sets of asymmetries can be found across different legal mechanisms. The thesis evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of these mechanisms and it further suggests that adopting the mixed-participation mode for the EU and its Member States to participate in the multilateral fora may be preferable, or indeed necessary, even in areas where the EU enjoys an exclusive competence.

Cette thèse porte sur les relations entre l’Union européenne et le Conseil de l’Europe de 1948 à 2014. Liées par un objectif commun d’une union politique entre les peuples d’Europe, ces deux organisations européennes entretiennent dès leur genèse des liens où coopération et concurrence se côtoient à des degrés différents en alternance. L’objectif de cette étude est donc d’analyser la nature de ces relations, la condition et la manière dont elles se mettent en place. Elle permet ainsi de réaliser une comparaison des deux organisations autour de paramètres politique, institutionnel et matériel. Il s’agit aussi d’apporter un regard nouveau sur l’histoire de l’intégration européenne : en s’élevant au-dessus d’une analyse intrinsèque de l’histoire de l’UE, l’intégration européenne est alors appréhendée par rapport aux interactions de l’UE avec le Conseil de l’Europe. / This thesis focuses on the relationship between the European Union and the Council of Europe for the period 1948- 2014. Having as their common objective a political union among the people of Europe, these two European organisations have alternated since their creation between cooperating stance and competitiveness.Therefore, the aim of this research study is to analyse the nature of these relationships, casting light on the conditions and the way in which these were put in place. The thesis makes a structured comparison of the two organizations regarding the relevant political, institutional and material parameters. It also aims at providing a fresh look at the history of European integration: by going beyond an intrinsic analysis of the history of the EU, European integration is thus understood in relation to the interactions of the EU with the Council of Europe.

Mirakyan, N. (2021). EU Cultural Relations with Partner Countries: Case Study of Armenia [Master's Thesis]. Supervisor: Mgr. Eliška Tomalová, Ph.D. Charles University. Abstract International cultural relations are a key area in the EU external relations and, thus, have gained salience in recent research. There is a growing body of constructivist literature that recognizes the importance of this area. However, there is still uncertainty in the literature regarding the views and attitudes of the partner countries toward the international cultural relations policy of the EU. In this vein, the current thesis project studies the sources and trajectory of the development of cultural relations between the EU and Armenia are from 2014 to 2020. Furthermore, the suitability of the international relations theory of liberalism is revisited in the light of cultural relations with the partner countries when these countries have concluded politico-economic agreements, and it is namely the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in the case of Armenia. The conceptions of cultural relations are critically analyzed in relation to the theories of international relations in order to develop a normative hypothesis while excluding common conceptual fallacies and unintentional assumptions. The normative...

This paper gives a historical institutionalist account of the European Union’s effectiveness when addressing Libyan issues in the time periods of 1985-1993 and in 2011. Effectiveness is defined through the application of a triangular model suggested by authors Charlotte Bretherton and John Vogler. Hence, the theoretical framework consists of the concepts of ”Presence”, ”Opportunity” and ”Capability”. Using sources such as the United Nations Security Council Resolutions and European Union Treaties and Regulations, I seek to explore how these three institutions have changed and evolved over time since 1985 thus investigating whether there have been changes to the effectiveness of the European Union.